ST. LOUIS (AP) — Royals top prospect Jac Caglianone went 0 for 5 in his major league debut on Tuesday night, but his presence was enough to help Kansas City overcome a five-run deficit to beat the St. Louis Cardinals 10-7.
“You see him just come in the clubhouse today, and you see what we do out in the field,” Royals shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. said. “That doesn’t kind of just happen by chance. It’s just one of those things where everyone kind of gets excited, and then you go out there and want to do your part and go out there and put up 10 runs.”
Caglianone batted sixth as the Royals’ designated hitter.
He stepped up to the plate for the first time to lead off the second inning to loud cheers from a crowd that featured plenty of Royals fans who ventured across the state to see the sixth overall pick of the 2024 amateur draft’s debut.
“That was awesome,” Caglianone said. “That’s something I’ll definitely remember forever. I can’t really thank the people for coming out like that and showing their support and stuff like that. I’m just grateful for it.”
Caliganone lined a 1-2 pitch from Andre Pallante to the right-center field warning track where Cardinals center fielder Victor Scott II raced 92 feet to make a running catch just steps away from the outfield wall.
Caglianone came close to picking up his first career hit on groundouts to Cardinals third baseman Nolan Arenado in the fifth and seventh innings, but the 10-time Gold Glove Award winner made off-balance throws on both plays to nail him at first base.
“He was great in the dugout,” Royals manager Matt Quatraro said. “He went up there, attacked. I think it was a bad idea to hit it to those two guys his first two at bats. There’s a really, really good catch in the first at bat, and then anything you hit to Arenado is not really a great idea. But he squared it up. He was ready to go. He looked poised. There will be plenty of hits for him.”
Caglianone was facing Oklahoma State as a member of the Florida Gators in the NCAA baseball tournament at this time a year ago. On Tuesday night, he played in front of 26,656 fans.
“The first time I stepped out onto the field, just wanted to check out the field and stuff, my initial thought was these places really are like, kind of fish bowls,” Caglianone said. “The grandstands just keep going up forever it felt like, but it was nice.”
The 22-year-old Caglianone hit .319 with nine home runs and 43 RBIs in 38 games with Triple-A Omaha after playing the first 12 games of the season with Double-A Northwest Arkansas — living up to the lofty expectations the Royals had when they drafted him.
“We were really excited when he got to us,” Royals general manager J.J. Picollo recalled. “What we didn’t know is, how long does it take? You never know how long it’s going to take, and if it took one year or two years, as long as he becomes a good major league player, we’d be fine with it.
“So, there was no real need, coming into this year, to see him up in ’25, but he went out and did what you want players to do.”
Caglianone’s new big league teammates, however, aren’t looking for him to be a hero.
“Where I would caution him is like he’s not a savior to this offense, nor should he think he think he is, nor should anybody think he is because that’s super unfair,” Royals first baseman Vinnie Pasquantino said. “He needs to come into this lineup and be his best self because his best self is what helps us the most, not him trying to do too much or to try to save the offense.”
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FILE - The Omaha Storm Chasers' Jac Caglianone waits in the dugout before his at-bat in a minor league baseball game against St. Paul at Werner Park in Papillion, Neb. on May 27, 2025. (Chris Machian/Omaha World-Herald via AP, file)
